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There's plenty of better options out there, though there's nothing wrong with this as such

As I may have told some of you before when I was studying Beauty Therapy, the one thing that was always hammered home to us skin care wise was that one of the best things you could do, skin care regime wise, was use Tea Tree or Witch Hazel as a cleanser and Rosewater as a toner. Plain and simple, buy it from your chemist really cheap, no added frills or promises. These literally are supposed to be the best options. They tell us, before giving us expensive lotions and potions to use on the customers when performing facials(!)

Of course I've listened to this advice only when it suits me. I know that it is right in many ways, but then, there's no chance I'm going to buy something so boring on a regular basis when there are so many exciting options out there to tempt me!

I recently bought a Burt's Bees Head to Toe kit, and in it was this Rosewater and Glycerine Toner. I have to admit, had it not been in the kit, it's not something I would have particularly chose to buy, mainly because I am so head over heels in love with my Lush Breath of Fresh Air toner and I do believe nothing will ever come close.

However, three factors led to me using this. Firstly, my Breath of Fresh Air leaked on my way home from holiday and I'm yet to replace it, secondly I had a bottle of this in my kit, and thirdly whilst reading through my text book for my new college course I read that the best possible toner should be made from Rosewater and Glycerine! Okay, I'm willing to listen for once, and try this out, with the possibility that it could be better than Breath of Fresh Air (I only said possibility!!!).

So of course the toner's main ingredient is Rose Water which has been used for centuries in skin care. Rose Water boost circulation and stimulates the skin. It's great at controlling sebum production, making it great for preventing overly oily skin, or bringing moisture to overly dry skin. It tightens pores and restores the skins natural pH balance. It's also antibacterial and is useful for treating acne, skin diseases and as an anti wrinkle treatment. So I guess the hype is true - what more could you want out of a toner? It prevents dry skin/oily skin/wrinkles/skin diseases - so in short - gives you perfect skin! All this and it is natural, gentle and smells a bit lovely! So to justify paying the insanely high price tag, instead of just popping down the chemist and buying a bottle of this (rather cheaply I believe), Burt's Bees have to add a few added bonuses in there to make it worthwhile. There is of course the glycerine, which is very soothing and attracts moisture to the skin and performs a barrier to prevent moisture loss from within the skin and can be used on even the most sensitive of skins and generally makes the skin look better. It also has cornflower extract, which has healing properties so can be good for acne that you already have or for any skin diseases or even cuts or bruises. It has Aloe Vera, which again is very soothing, has healing properties, rejuvenates the skin and is full of vitamins and minerals. There is Witch Hazel which again is one of the most highly recommended products to use for skin care due to the fact that improves skin tone and like the other ingredients help heal the skin. It's astringent, boosts the circulation and also soothing. Finally there is Yucca Schidigera Extract which can repair the damage to cell membranes of the skin to prevent a loss of nutrients.

Whilst this is definitely suitable for sensitive skins and for mature skins, I didn't find it to be as gentle as is made out. Compared with Breath of Fresh Air, this is about as gentle as Clean and Clear - which of course isn't in the least bit gentle. I wouldn't wish Clean and Clear on my worst enemy. So in reality, this isn't as harsh as that, but in no way is it as gentle as Breath of Fresh Air, so the people claiming it is gentle must have only used harsh skin stripper type solutions before.

For those who do like that, I've completely stripped my skin of everything feel, like I know some do (no matter how many times I tell them this will make their skin worse!!) then this would be a better option than Breath of Fresh Air, as for some it would feel like this is working more. That said, for me, it's Breath of Fresh Air all the way, gentle but effective!

This does really get every last bit of dirt out of your face, I actually was quite surprised at how black the cotton wool was coming away looking, it does clean deep down in those pores, removing anything your cleanser hasn't got to, and of course any last traces of cleanser itself.

It is effective, you can see that, and there aren't really any negative comments to say about it. It doesn't leave your skin feeling tight, yet doesn't feel as gentle as my favourite toner like I've mentioned, it's somewhere in between which is hard to explain. For most I would presume it would feel gentle but like it's working.

Where it does fail to deliver is that it hasn't really over all changed the appearance of my skin. I hate to keep referring back to Breath of Fresh Air, this isn't after all a review of that, but I can't help but compare the two being that this was an alternative to that for me. However, with Breath of Fresh Air, one of the things I loved was that it actually made me look healthy. Once I started using it, I felt at times like I could go without make up as my skin looked so glowing and healthy and really did change in tone and texture and was a vast difference. Here however, it does nothing for my skin really. I mean, I haven't got any spots since I started using it, but my skin was clear to begin with from my regular skin care regime. So cleaning the skin yeah it works, but to actually make the skin healthy looking and glowing it doesn't do anything. My skin just looks regular. It doesn't look bad by any means, but it's not that amazing effect that I've been able to get from another product, so it is a let down for me. I guess whether you are satisfied with this will depend on what you have used before it - no doubt it's better than most toners, but falls quite far behind some others.

When I originally started using it I developed some strange bumps on my face but I had also been playing around with a few other new things around those few days, so I stopped using this to see if it was this, and when I have started using it again they haven't come back so I can only conclude that it wasn't this, or that it was more than one thing I was using reacting badly used together.

The toner smells lovely, although I suspect it's down to personal taste on this. It unsurprisingly, smells like roses, which I personally think is a gorgeous smell. Floral, yes, but without being granny-esque, and yet at the same time, granny wouldn't be offended by it! The fella actually asked for something to soothe his skin when it was a bit sore the other week and this was all I had with me so I reluctantly (I only have a small bottle) put some on a cotton wool pad for him and he did ask what it smelt of, but didn't make any negative comments about it. Whilst it's most definitely not a manly scent, it's pretty un-offensive to most people, and quite gentle and subtle. I really love the scent although it is very simple.

My packaging is fairly simple as it is a small trial size. I've used it for a few weeks and I don't think I'll get many more uses out of it. However, the packaging on the full sized one looks pretty bad. It's got a giant photo of some old woman on it - not exactly what you want sitting on your bathroom shelf, and generally suggest this is for old people. That said, if you are old and are thinking ahh maybe this is for me, there are so much better options out there for mature skins, this doesn't do THAT much for wrinkle prevention/reduction - there are some out there that do absolutely LOADS.

The toner is a shocking £14.95 full priced. For 7 fl oz or 207 ml. Whilst it is hard to compare, due to Lush's annoying habit of listing things in grams, but Breath of Fresh Air is £6.25 for 250g. Based on the fact that this Burt's Bees product under two thirds of the size of a can of coke, and my Breath of Fresh Air is around the same size as a can of coke (at least), then you are paying over double the price for less product. If it had double the effects then it would be worth it if you could afford it, however it doesn't even have half the effects. Lush also do a toner which is quite simple like this one, made just of rose water and lavender water, which again to me I don't think would do enough for my skin, but if you do fancy the sound of just a simple rosewater based toner, then that one at under half the price for more product than in this one is obviously a better option.

There really is no reason to buy this as far as I can see. Whilst it's not a horrendous product and doesn't do anything wrong as such, I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy it, as what would be the reason to when there are such better and cheaper options available?